Why Chelsea is one of the first supporters of the new Club World Cup

This time next year, FIFA plans to launch the new, expanded version of the Club World Cup in the USA, with 32 teams from around the world battling for supremacy.

Chelsea, who were denied a place in the Champions League for the second year in a row, are now returning to the elite of club football.

FIFA’s decision to introduce a new competition with 63 matches in a month during a section of the busy football calendar normally reserved for major international tournaments or players’ summer holidays has been controversial. FIFPro and the World Leagues Association have threatened legal action, accusing the governing body of not showing sufficient consideration for the welfare of players and the organisation of domestic leagues.

But that concern is not shared in the centres of power at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are keen supporters of the Club World Cup and take it into account at many levels in their decisions – not least in the decision to part ways with Mauricio Pochettino by mutual consent this summer and appoint Enzo Maresca as head coach on a five-year contract.

Chelsea saw what lay ahead as a double season, with two domestic seasons framing the Club World Cup. They wanted to ensure they had a long-term coach who fit into their structure and culture to minimise disruption ahead of the tournament. Maresca fits that criteria to a degree they concluded Pochettino simply did not.

The most pressing priority for Maresca is to lead Chelsea back into the Champions League by securing a top-four finish in the Premier League in 2024/25. But the new Club World Cup is seen internally as a serious trophy that he and his team should aim for, alongside the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Europa Conference League.

The Club World Cup played a role in Maresca’s arrival (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

There is also a lot of thought being given to how best to construct Chelsea’s squad to cope with up to 75 or 80 competitive matches in all competitions over the next 12 months. There is also consideration of how pre-season preparations for the 2025/26 season may need to be adjusted in light of the Club World Cup effort.

But overall, Chelsea do not believe the summer of 2025 will be any more difficult to navigate than this one, which has seen a significant number of their players called up for the European Championship, Copa America and Olympic Games. Indeed, one advantage of the Club World Cup is that clubs can control their players’ workloads and training schedules more directly than they can influence the approach of national teams.

Despite all the difficulties, the expanded Club World Cup offers exactly what all elite clubs have always been looking for: a potentially lucrative opportunity to increase revenue. Chelsea’s qualification for the inaugural edition of the competition, secured by winning the 2020/21 Champions League, is already having a positive impact on their “shareholder value”, according to respected data and analytics platform Football Benchmark.

FIFA has yet to confirm how much money will be offered to Club World Cup participants and the eventual winner as negotiations with potential broadcast and sponsorship partners drag on. Still, the final figures are likely to be significant even for a club with Chelsea’s revenues, which broke the £500 million ($635 million) mark for the first time in the 2022-23 season.

As detailed in The athlete As of early this month, FIFA still has several major hurdles to overcome to get the expanded Club World Cup off the ground, the most important of which are working out broadcast deals that match guaranteed revenue with television exposure for a new competition, as well as sponsorship deals at a level that ensures participation is financially viable for some of Europe’s leading clubs.

But Chelsea have no doubt that FIFA will turn President Gianni Infantino’s big idea into a reality next summer and that it will, over time, become a highly valued fixture in the quadrennial football calendar.

The new tournament format is Infantino’s idea (Francois Nel/Getty Images)

Despite public statements by coach Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid will participate in 2025. As will Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Juventus Turin, Atletico Madrid, Porto, Benfica and Red Bull Salzburg.

The last two years have shown that Chelsea are no longer certain of competing in such select European company. But they could also face Copa Libertadores winners or Champions League winners from North America, Asia or Africa. It is the tournament’s truly global nature that sets it apart and could make it particularly popular with the many fans of Europe’s elite clubs who live abroad.

Chelsea see participation in the Club World Cup as a valuable opportunity to reach out to and develop their large global fan base. In this respect, America is a helpful host, offering a wide choice of large, modern stadiums surrounded by hotels and facilities that appeal to travelling fans.

There is also a possibility that FIFA will partner with a global streaming platform so that tournament matches can be watched on smartphones and tablets anywhere in the world.

Most important of all, Chelsea have a big international stage and can confidently factor it into their plans. The same cannot be said for the Champions League, although there are hopes that the club’s banishment from Europe’s elite club competition will soon be over.

(Top photo: Francois Nel/Getty Images)